“Turn 4 is famous” – Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko believes Lewis Hamilton played a damning role in ruining Alex Albon’s career last season.
The ever-outspoken Helmut Marko has dropped another bomb by claiming Lewis Hamilton is responsible for Alex Albon’s absence from the F1 grid. Marko referred to the season-opening Austrian GP last year where Hamilton went on to crash into Albon in Turn 4 and send him crashing out of the race.
Turn 4 is famous. That’s where I think Hamilton destroyed Albon’s career.
“If Hamilton hadn’t sent him out there in 2020, Albon would have won the race. Then maybe everything would have been completely different, because the psyche and the self-confidence then naturally develop completely differently.
“The difference is: Perez has more consistency. When he gets his qualifying sessions right, like second in Imola or third at the Red Bull Ring, those are results that Albon didn’t have. And in the race, he’s almost at Verstappen level when he has a clear run.”
Alex Albon finds it difficult to watch races
Albon never went on to fully recover from that incident, leading to his demotion to now being a reserve driver for the team. Sergio Perez is shining as his replacement this season, and Albon admits he finds it difficult to watch the races from the sidelines.
“Of course, I still play a role in the team and that’s why I’m very happy with the fact that Red Bull is doing so well this F1 season. But logically, I’m also a bit disappointed because I’m not in the car myself.
“I’m a sportsman and you aspire to be the best, so that’s why it was especially difficult in the first race in Bahrain to see that I wasn’t competing myself. It remains difficult to watch F1 races this season.”
